Great question, Pranish, and I’m sure folks here will have excellent suggestions for you.

Of all the professions out there, Medicine — and particularly patient care — is the one whose applications for GTD I’ve considered most challenging and potentially rewarding. I guess we’ll find out now that you’re getting “Management” added to the mix. :)

This one goes without saying, but I’d start by trying to simplify any workflows as much as you’re able. To paraphrase Strunk & White, “omit needless parts.” I know that’s easier said than done in a field that’s full of intractable policies and ingrained mores. But, since it sounds like you’ll have a lot coming at you from minute to minute, it will be important to avoid duplicate efforts, ad hoc one-offs, and any kind of “open loop” (term from the book you’re reading) that will cause you to second guess what you’re doing in the moment. You need to know where stuff goes in this new environment, and the faster that becomes a “no-look pass” for you, the easier the game will be.

Next, I’d make a point of having a capture device that you really trust. For most MDs I know that’s either a Palm or (believe it or not) a Hipster PDA. When my wife and I were in the hospital for our daughter’s delivery in October, I saw at least half a dozen nurses, attendings, and residents who used index cards for everything they needed to track or remember for later (and, no, not a single one had any idea who I was). Whatever system you choose, make sure you can capture task, ideas, and what have you instantly — so much so that you don’t even have to consciously think about it.

The thread through these two is that the busier (and more interrupted) that you are, the more you’ll need to rely on a “trusted system” for making sure the critical stuff gets done right. With all due respect to doctors, there’s a kind of macho ethos around the hours, the responsibility, and the “stuff” you’re supposed to keep sorted using your brain alone. That will work for some folks, but I’d encourage you to be open to very simple compensatory systems that don’t require you to, as I like to say, treat your mind as either an alarm clock or a white board. Know what I mean?

Best of luck, and I’ll look forward to hearing how things go for you!

Merlin’s right (of course) … simplicity is key.

I set people up with GTD for a living, and the number one mistake I see new GTDers make is to to choose 10+ different contexts and try to sort all of their tasks into them. I’m sure someone, somewhere, genuinely requires 10 contexts, but “In Microsoft Word,” “In Firefox,” “In the Kitchen,” etc. contexts easily get out of hand.

I have two main contexts, “Calls” and “Errands.” (I also live in another state part-time, so occasionally an “Utah” context is necessary.) That’s it.

When managing other people, your Waiting On list becomes key. I’d suggest putting a binder out somewhere easily-accessible with a sheet for each person you’re in charge of (alphabetized) so each person can look for themselves at any given moment what you’re still waiting on them for. Make it clear from the start that they are responsible for anything listed in that binder.

Mainly, no matter HOW busy you are — and you will be very busy — you need to schedule a Weekly Review with yourself. When you first start out, it might be an Every Three Days Review. You’ve got to take everything that you’ve captured and make it actionable, and you’ve got to follow up on things you’re waiting on.

Put all of your due dates into a private Google Calendar and setup SMS alerts to your phone. Every Sunday, look at the calendar and make an action card for each upcoming day of the week. (4x6 index cards work great.) If there’s anything time-sensitive during one of those days, jot it down. This creates a multiple-reminder system that makes it difficult for things to fall through the cracks, but is still simple to use.

Give your short timeframe, you might want to hire a coach to get you setup. Developing a solid, trustworthy organizational system that really works for you is a process, and starting out with someone experienced on what works and what doesn’t can shave months off the learning curve. (Shameless self-promotion: I’m available! marina at sufficientthrust dot com.)

While your getting your GTD system set, don’t forget you’ve just taken on the oversight of 40 people. GTD may help in managing tasks, but now you get to set the tone of your leadership style.

My advice is to decide now never to be a dictator or a cheerleader, and always be direct and honest. Hold people accountable for their work (GTD works here), and help each individual discover their talents.

Even in the world of medicine, a professional who can master people management is going to be more successful in the long run.

You say you’re in charge of the department, and responsible for 40 people. That sounds like you’re a manager now. If so, I highly recommend the information at manager-tools.com. It’s a series of podcasts and related notes that are wonderful for the new manager. They’ve been at it a while, and regularly add new material. So, the site can be overwhelming at first. I recommend you start with the “essentials” series. There should be a link to it on the front page. Good luck!

1st - congratulations!!! this is a tremendous and meaningful opportunity. 2nd - read and reread GTD; it is right on the mark 3rd - keep focused on your projects and goals; hospitals are full of meetings and time-wasters designed to keep you distracted from the job at hand 4th - know your employees; know about them as people, their families, etc.; pharmacists are in short supply and good technicians are worth their weight in gold; always remember how much you need them in order to be successful 5th - know your boss; know his/her idiosyncracies and understand what makes them successful and how you fit into that 6th - work all shifts; as a non-pharmacist (i’m assuming), you need to know what happens in the department and how the different processes work; you need to have credibility 7th - develop alliances of peers who are savvy and can give you good intelligence about what’s going on and importantly things you could do better. 8th- learn all you can about process improvement; pharmacy has a process- production side and a clinical side. productivity is a key point of emphasis these days and the best way to enhance is process improvement. 9th -just in case you don’t know, nurses run the hospital — they are your key customer; they can make or break your success for programs you want to do. 10th - patient safety is paramount; push for technological improvements to help.

Good luck - I speak from 35 years experience in hospital administration. Craig

I agree with Nelking and Brianjdoherty - the people are key to this.

Firstly if you don’t have intermediaries who manage groups of the 40 people then you probably need to consider doing this. No-one can realistically manage 40 individuals on their own. Even Jesus Christ only managed 12 key people.

I’ve also found it’s good to remember that if you spend a large proportion of time investing in your people rather than tasks that they could be doing, you’ll get WAY more done. A 5% productivity improvement across 40 people means much more work being accomplished than if you improve your own productivity by 5%!

This may be simple stuff and you may have heard it before but these are two of the things I have to keep reminding myself about.